Inside Photoshop: Search Articles

Give your model a nondestructive makeover

Added on Thursday 17th of June 2010 09:30 am EST

Application:

Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/4

Operating Systems:

Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

Your fresh-faced model might already have her makeup on, but you can enhance or change it easily in Photoshop. Best of all, you can make these changes nondestructively so you can edit the makeup again and again without waiting for a makeup artist!

To give a model a digital makeover, we’ll:

• Use the Quick Mask mode to select facial areas easily.

• Use adjustment layers to apply non-destructive makeup.

• Change the layer opacity to make the makeup blend in and look realistic.

Whether your model has the natural look or some pre-applied color, you have the power to change that look in Photoshop. We’ll show you how—in just a few quick steps—you can alter your model’s makeup and mood, as shown in Figure A. And best of all, these are all non-destructive edits so you can change the colors until you find a look that suits your needs!

A

To follow along with our example, download the file makeup.zip from the URL given at the beginning of this article, extract the file makeup.psd, launch Photoshop and open the file shown as the original in Figure A. (Images provided by PhotoSpin. Some images modified for educational purposes.)

Lip-smacking good

For the first makeup change, you’ll start with the lips. To do this, you’ll select the lips and apply a quick adjustment layer.

To change your model’s lip color:

1. Press Q to enter Quick Mask mode.

2. Select the Brush tool from the Tools panel.

3. Chose a soft round brush from the brush presets with a diameter of approximately 70 pixels for our sample image.

6. Click on the Create New Fill Or Adjustment Layer button at the base of the Layers panel and choose Color Balance from the resulting pop-up menu.

7. With the Midtones option selected, adjust the sliders to change the color balance for the lips, as shown in Figure C. Select the Shadows option and make adjustments to suit your needs, and then do the same for the Highlights option. CS4 users will do this via the Adjustments panel. Users of all other Photoshop versions will use the Color Balance dialog box and need to click OK when finished.

C

The eyes have it

Next, you’ll add some shading to your model’s eyelids and under-brow areas. You’ll do this change in much the same fashion as you applied the lip color, but you’ll use a different adjustment layer type.

To apply color to the eyelids:

1. Press Q to enter Quick Mask mode.

2. Select a soft round brush and adjust the diameter to suit your needs. We kept the same size brush for the eyes as we used on the lips.

3. Brush under the eyebrow to paint a selection area, and then press Q to exit Quick Mask mode and preview your selection, as shown in Figure D.